Despite the fact that the scientists haven’t ruled out yet how diabetes is related to the risk of developing dementia, there is another study that links high blood sugar levels to the disease that affects the cognitive skills of the patients.

Dr. Paul Crane, lead author of the study and an associate professor of medicine at the University of Washington, and his colleagues conducted an observational study of 2,067 patients that are members of a nonprofit HMO Group Health. Most patients had type 2 diabetes but some didn’t have. All of them had no dementia. They wanted to prove that an increased blood sugar level affects the performance of the brain.

The researchers tracked the glucose levels of the participants in an average of seven years through blood glucose tests. The participants, who had an average age of 76 in the beginning of the study, also underwent cognitive assessments every other year. Those who scored below the normal rate were subjected for further analysis and evaluation.

Their findings revealed that about 25 percent of the patients had developed dementia, mostly Alzheimer’s disease. This is after they have factored in cardiovascular health and smoking. Even those who had no diabetes but had displayed an increased level of glucose had developed dementia.

Furthermore, 18 percent of those who had developed dementia had blood sugar levels of 115 mg/dL higher than those at 100 mg/dL while 40 percent had 190 mg/dL higher than those with 160 mg/dL. This only proves that as the glucose level increases, the risk elevates as well.

The researchers admitted that further research is still needed to establish the connection between dementia and blood sugar as they still haven’t provided an explanation how it happened. They don’t propose to medical practitioners as well to change how they treat people with diabetes but would like to remind the patients of another complication that their disease may develop.

The study was published in the New England Journal of Medicine.